Fides

Experimenting on people again... by proxy

fides — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:10:02 GMT

Hello lovely readers (especially the finnish ones),

It has finally happened: I don't want to experiment on you all - I'm supervising an MA student who would like to ~~experiment on you~~ solicit your optinions. My supervisee is writing her thesis on the influence of different digital platforms on fandom throughout the years and would very much like to hear from you - especially if you have been in fandom a while (i.e. predate Tumblr).

The survey is short (shouldn't take more than 5 - 10 minutes) and can be found here.

Please spare a few minutes to fill answer her questions and share the link with your fannish nearest and dearest (or bitter rivels... honestly not fussy).

Call for Volunteers - Experiment on Story Variations!

fides — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:02:17 GMT

Hello lovely people - I'm helping out with an experiment looking at variations on stories and we need some volunteers. The experiment involves writing a short summary of one of two stories ('Romeo and Juliet' or 'Little Red Riding Hood') and then writing a second summary of the same story - but with a twist!

The experiment is online so can be done in your own time (within the length of the experiment) and from the comfort of your own sofa/writing desk/bat cave.

Everything you need to know and the experiment itself can be found at http://korpora-exp.zim.uni-duisburg-essen.de/variants/

Please think about having a go - I hope it will be fun. (And tell your friends!)

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/12219.html. There are comments there.

Pimping: Terriers

fides — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 23:43:04 GMT

Mediam: TV show
Genre: Buddy PI/detective
Length: Sadly canceled after 13 episodes
Why?: Well written and acted, character-driven, down-to-earth detective show with rounded, flawed characters - yep, no wonder in was canned.

Terriers is an American series although I kept forgetting that as I was watching it. In a good way. It doesn't have that patina of "gloss" which I associate with modern US productions (it has a more 70s detective show feel to it for some reason), even the ones that are supposed to be gritty[TM]. It's very plot driven so while it only lasts 13 episodes it covers more ground than some series manage in 22. It helps that there aren't any really any filler episodes giving it a more British series plot-arc feel. It also has the trick of many British series of ending at a good place.

The main two characters are Hank Dolworth, an ex-cop and recovering alcoholic who got kicked out of the police under a cloud (of alcohol fumes) but is now clean, and Britt Pollack, the younger partner in the duo and an ex-B&E specialist who has now gone legit. Together they work as (unlicensed) private investigators of the underdog and slightly sketchy/ends justifies the means variety. The ensemble is rounded out by their lawyer and occasional employer (Maggie), Britt's girlfriend (Katie) who is studying to be a vet, Hank's ex-wife (Gretchen) and her new beau (Jason), Hank's ex-police partner (Gustafson) and his sister (Steph).

While none of the characters are unattractive (it is an American TV show) it isn't the a show that you watch for the pretty - it's one you watch to the story and the people. The characters, even those that aren't particularly fleshed out, come across as rounded. Gretchen, for example, gets very little development herself but she still comes across as a person in her own right rather than just a plot-device-with-breasts or an auxiliary to Hank's character.

I've often thought that American shows are very bad at getting shades-of-grey characters right - the good guys have to be heroes even when they are doing bad things. This gets it right imho. Pretty much everyone is flawed, makes mistakes and fucks up (in a few cases really fucks up) but they are very human, character-driven fuck-ups rather than cases of sudden plot-stupidity and, even better, they get called on it (for the most part). They get pissed of at the things that they should get pissed of about rather than the things that they can be dramatic over and none of these things that happen define their characters, they are events that the characters go through/do and then have to deal with the fall out from.

I wasn't entirely sure after watching the first episode (I as wasn't sure if it was another show where bad things were okay if the good guys did them which tends to squick me a bit) but it quickly grew on me. If you like the little-guy-against-the-system, bros-before-legality-but-with-a-conscience type detective show then give this one a try.

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/9281.html. There are comments there.

Fav Fic Meme (Shamelessly Stolen from Beren)

fides — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:53:37 GMT

I saw this posted on beren_writes's LJ and thought 'why the heck not'. So here it is - the Fic Favourites Meme. I tell you which of the stories I wrote I am proudest of and, if so inclined, other people can say which they like best.

This is the link to my entry. Please leave your comments. Thank you kindly

I'm actually quite interested in this because as far as I can tell my most popular story by quite some way was one I wrote pretty quickly (it was for mmom) and might possibly involve a pairing which I have not actually watched (again, it was for mmom). On the plus side, it is quite short and has no redeemable social value - which might explain it I guess.

For those who are into such things but want a reminder - you can find me on AO3.

For those who aren't into such things please ignore this message and pretend it didn't happen (especially if I am in some way related to you ;-p)

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/9072.html. There are comments there.

Priceless

fides — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:18:43 GMT

As I mentioned in my previous post - kludge had a story published in an anthology called Machine of Death (first 60 pages free sample). Being an independent/self published novel for various reasons they knew they had a bit of an uphill struggle to get noticed.

Their plan - to try and get everyone to buy copies on the same day (26th), thus slightly gaming the Amazon.com bestseller list and make a splash.

They succeeded.

Incidentally beating 'Life' the Keith Richards (auto)biography into 2nd and 'Broke' by Glenn Beck, with which it shared a launch date, into 3rd.

Beck was not impressed.

At all. Not only exhorting his followers to buy his book (which is fair enough because that is what everyone else has been doing) but slamming the two books that beat his as part of the Liberal death culture that is destroying America.

My husband is part of what's "wrong" with America - I'm so proud. And deeply amused.

The related bits of twitter now seemed to have turned into a Machine of Death vs Glenn Beck with people posting to #machineofdeath finding themselves put on some interesting hate lists by Beck's supporters while other people are appealing to everyone to buy MoD just to annoy Beck more.

Just to add to the fun - apparently Beck's producers got in touch with the editors to ask for a copy of the book... whether the response to this was actually to point them towards the Amazon page where it could be bought is not clear but is am amusing thought.

Shameless Pimping: Machine of Death Day (Pacific Time)

fides — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:26:37 GMT

kludge's book is coming out today. It's an anthology of short stories all based around the premise of a machine that can predict how someone will die (i.e. this comic).

A free preview is available (which incidentally includes kludge's story) on their webpage.

To promote the book they are holding a Machine of Death Day to try and get listed in the Amazon.com best sellers for one day (Oct 26th). Since it is Amazon.com, the "day" is on Pacific Time so if you are interested, are thinking about buying the book (read the preview, think about it) and are in a position to order from the US!Amazon then join in the fun of trying to game the Amazon system and order it "today" (for values of today which equal today in pacific time i.e. late afternoon/evening European time)! Sadly the book is only listed on on Amazon.com atm but it will be available other places in the near future.

And as an added cool bonus - they will send you a free eBook version if you send them a receipt (currently, Kindle or TXT but ~~they are looking into ePub so hopefully that should be available soon as well~~ kludge is working on the ePub version so that will be available soon).

Please pass the message on to anyone who you think might be interested - help get an indie book (and T-Rex) some recognition!

EDIT: Success!! They hit the #1 spot in the Amazon.com bestseller rankings for books. Yay them!

Filing the Serial Numbers Off - The Quick and Easy Way

fides — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:46:49 GMT

A few of you may remember that during the recent kerfuffle about fan fiction one of the noted authors suggested the way to make everything okay was to change the names. We bring to you now the FOTSeN automator!

With this wonderful piece of technology (built by kludge) you too can miraculously turn any AO3 archived fan fiction into "original" fiction with just the touch of a button! Just give it the URL or story ID of any publicly visible story in the AO3 archive, up to 20 names and their replacements and set it to work.

Want to see how the story would read if it was set in another fandom? Squicked by RPF but want to read the characters in an Actor!AU? You can do that too, just by switching the names!

And all for the low, low price of FREE!

Enjoy :-)

NB 1. For those wondering - the script works in real-time, directly from the archive and does not store or keep any of the stories being converted.
NB 2. This was written as a lighthearted joke in response to an uninformed suggestion. Taking it seriously is bad for everyone's blood pressure.

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/7624.html. There are comments there.

Yay Kludge!

fides — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:27:10 GMT

My lovely kludge got published today in Strange Horizons. Everyone should go read!

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/6344.html. There are comments there.

Meme Responses Part 2

fides — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:16:24 GMT

Finally, here are the second set of answers to the 15 characters meme I posted a few posts ago. Answers in this section are to the final question by zellieh and those asked by beckyl, clarehooper and jane_h. Due to the questions, the answers in this section range from PG-13 to NC-17.

8. Nicholas (8), Sirius(12), Remus(13), Ethan(14) - What's their favourite sex act/sex toy?

from zellieh

NB. Look there were some non-twisted characters on the list but a. none of them got picked and b. that isn't half as much fun. Ummm... sorry?

Nicholas

There was a rumour about the embassy that Nicholas' favourite sexual act was masturbation because it was sex with someone he trusted. That was not be totally true (either that it was his favourite, or that he totally trusted himself) but it was a rumour that he'd started so he did nothing to dispel it.

He knew people speculated. Initially it was the Bond mystique that all agents were cursed with. Later - disappointment when they realised that he didn't have a girl, or boy in his case, in every city. Knew too that they jokingly said 'always the quiet ones' and thought of leather and chains. For his American colleagues it's the British cliché with its odd mix of resentment and respect that their tangled histories have engendered. For his compatriots it is their own mixed feelings about Big Brother, freedom and safety. He's never bothered to ask if they think he is on the leash or holding the whip, it just amuses him that it is where their minds go. They think its about power. That he is about power. And that isn't totally wrong - but it isn't right either. Power is good - he respects it, recognises it, enjoys that he can be king-maker and king-breaker but he doesn't seek or want power for its own sake. Nor is it a sexual thing. The frisson of it warms him, but only because knowledge is power and knowledge is something he craves. He doesn't want to break kingdoms but wants to know how they would crack and why and where he would need to apply the pressure should it become necessary. He wants the knowledge to know when it would become necessary. That's just survival and pride in a job well done.

The same could be said for adrenaline. It isn't that Nicholas is an adrenaline junky because that would suggest that he seeks it out and the last thing that you need in an agent is someone who actively takes risks. Like most spies he is inherently risk-adverse, there is enough complication in his job without needing to find more. He takes chances, but only because not doing so is even less advisable. Still - there is nothing wrong with enjoying what you do.

His relationship, if it could be called that, with Christopher had that edge. That explosive mix of power and danger and secrets. Christopher had played his games, bringing that testosterone-fuelled excitement back with him like victory spoils and Nicholas had played Christopher. It made it fun, added an extra spice to their trysts. He's not sure that Christopher ever realised, so sure in his own righteousness, how easy it was to offer just enough of a challenge to be interesting but not enough that Christopher ever looked past his own arrogance to wonder. Some might call his favourite game topping-from-the-bottom - but that suggests the a literal interpretation which, although he enjoys that too, is inaccurate.

It's all and none of these things.

So when Nicholas intercepts a series of suspicious messages, he investigates. And when he tracks the source of the missives down to an anonymous hotel room and finds Mark there, waiting for him, he smiles.

Because while these are the games that he loves, maybe his favourite thing is someone who will make him take those risks.

He would never admit it however - his life depends on it.

Sirius

It started of as a joke, or something like a joke. Remus had been trying to work on some report or other for the crummy outfit that was employing him this week but probably wouldn't the next month when they figured out what he was. Sirius was bugging him because he was bored and Sirius and bored was always a bad combination. Back at Hogwarts he would have used the time to plan his next prank campaign against the Slytherin or gone exploring - there was always another secret passageway to find and be-damned if James could find more than him. Now there was just the flat with its boring walls and muggle pictures and the only people to bother were Lily and Remus. And Lily was out.

"For Merlin's sake, Padfoot," Remus snapped as the page he was trying to write on attempted to fold itself into an aeroplane and join the small squadron that was already circling the light fitting, "I'm trying to work. If you can't sit down and read a book quietly then bugger off somewhere else before I tie you to the chair!"

Sirius had laughed because Moony was all exasperation and fuss and it was amazing that someone so young could act so old. He'd forgotten that it was the week before the full moon, the week when the wolf started making itself comfortable in Remus' skin and even Moony's legendary patience was stretched thin trying to encompass both wizard and beast. He realised too late that laughing was definitely the wrong reaction.

Thin black ribbons of light streamed out from Remus' wand and twined about his limbs dragging him backwards until he fell against the plump pillows of the sofa that Lily had insisted on and he had always hated. He didn't know what substance Remus had conjured but there was no fighting against its soft but unforgiving hold. He just managed to get through the first syllable of Remus' name in surprised (and slightly admiring) objection when Remus flicked his wand again and more of those black bands of smoke-that-wasn't wrapped themselves around his head and smothered the words. Remus turned back to his work.

Of course, Remus, being Remus, he only managed five minutes before his inherent niceness overcame his irritation and he walked over to to check that Sirius was okay. Not that he let Sirius go.

"Are you going to behave?" he asked lightly.

Sirius looked at him and struggled pointedly. The gag didn't actually restrict his breathing, just stopped him making any noise, which meant it didn't explain the tight feeling in his chest. His skin felt hot and itchy and if he didn't know better he might think that someone had hexed his clothes. Which wouldn't be the first time. Remus sniffed. And then sniffed again, a look of surprise spreading across his face. Sirius didn't know what he was smelling but he could guess. Every part of him seemed to be straining against its binding and he almost regretted wearing muggle trousers. Almost. To his surprise he realised he felt calm for the first time in months (years), the tight, unyielding bonds keeping the world out rather than him in. He met Remus' eyes and saw the wolf staring back from behind the fond, familiar gaze.

Then Remus smiled, the lupine grin of a predator who's spotted little red riding hood and knows that the woodcutter is off that day.

Sirius tilted his head and bared his throat. The wolf pounced.

Since Azkaban the thought of being restrained in any way makes Sirius break out in a cold sweat. All he can see is the dark, unfriendly walls of his prison. He knows it wasn't actually them but the Dementors beyond that leached everything of worth from him until he was nothing but a shell, but he couldn't see the Dementors and he could see the walls. Now he can't see anything else but walls, trapping him - sucking the life from everything within them. He can't bare to let the walls any closer but, as he prowls around his new cage, he keeps finding himself coming back to it: the collar, with its little bronze name tag saying "Padfoot", that they use when Sirius has to go out in his animagus form. The collar that they have only used for //that// purpose since he returned. It sits there, gathering dust like everything else in the house, a promise in his dreams and a nightmare in his waking.

Remus

Remus doesn't remember what it was like before the wolf. Intellectually he knows there was a time when there was just him in his soul but he's not totally sure that young boy was really him. The wolf's influence waxes and wanes with the moon, giving him double-vision on his life.

He hates (and he loves) the time before the full moon when his blood howls with the wolf's voice. That's when he always falls in with the most wild, reckless schemes that Sirius dreams up. Like the time that Sirius took him up for a ride on his 'bike and they had ended up fucking on the back while doing 70mph, 800ft above the M25. It had been exhilarating - the wind buffeting both of them and threatening to rip them from the bike and each others' arms. It's only afterwards when they finally land at James' (dishevelled and intoxicated by their own daring) that Remus wonders what they were thinking. He never forgets though, carrying the memory of leather and tight heat, of the deep vibrations of the engine purring though both of them, of Sirius' whooping laughter and the rushing cold.

He loves (and he hates) the soft, gentle mornings that they find together in the aftermath of the full moon. Every morning is a lazy Sunday and each touch seems to be a declaration. They make love slowly and with care knowing that they have been blessed with this time and wanting to make the most of it. Afterwards they lie together, breathing with each other's breath and wishing that time could stand still. It's in those mornings Remus hopes and fears that he might be loved. It's in those mornings the Remus thinks he is happiest. But, while that is true, he knows he can't be truly happy because part of his soul is asleep.

Ethan

For Ethan it is not just a what but also a who. They have a volatile, strained relationship, Giles and he. It's glued together and splintered apart by history and blood and sex and death. He thinks he loved Giles back when they ran wild together, the gang of them rebelling against middle-class oppression, thinking with the amazing cruelty of innocence that they were free and making their own rules and fuck the world. That was before love was proved just another in the list of socially acceptable opiates. Ethan isn't sure what they have now; something of chaos and betrayal that suits them both so well that they are bound by it far more than any shared delusion.

His favourite is when Giles fucks him. It is proof that he can still goad Giles into such action, that he is still under Giles' skin. Violence is too easy; too swift to invoke and too swift to forget. He needles Giles, wanting (needing) to get a rise from him in every sense. They fall to sex last, when every other pyrrhic victory has been won and lost. Sometimes it marks a détente, other times another battle in the never-ending war. He prefers when it is blood and tears; rage made and given flesh by their joint bodies. When Giles is gentle and kind it breaks him in ways he can no longer name and he isn't the one that is supposed to break. If he hadn't seen the equally wrecked expression on Giles' face afterwards he would suspect that it was Giles' revenge on him but as it is he is left to wonder why Giles choses to punish them both. He thinks sometimes he knows and regards it as proof positive of Chaos and the unutterable cruelty of the universe.

In the face of all logic they still find some peace in each other, there at the epicentre of their storm. It reminds Ethan of when he and Ripper were the punctuation in each other's sentences. It makes him feel young again. Then, when it is over and they are once more themselves and not a tangle of limbs and bruises, he gets to watch as Giles tries to twist it around, tries to make it Ethan's fault that he once again found himself again buried in Ethan's body as if Ethan somehow forced him into it. He never has. That would spoil the fun. Something Giles knows just as well and hates Ethen for even more.

Someday they will learn to stop hurting each other and Ethen can't bring himself to welcome that day because he knows it will be goodbye.

9. Kronos (6) and Nicholas (8) are housemates. Which of Methos (1), Castiel (5) and Remus (13) gets the third slot and why?

from beckyl

Oh dear - carefully moves Cas away from Kronos (Yes - I love mighty-smitey Castiel as much as the next fangirl but having seen the Castiel-Kitten picture I just have more trouble picturing smitey!Cas and Kronos as opposed to... well the other way it could go. Remember: Angels are for life not just the Apocalypse - especially when you are probably the one causing it (and that doesn't just mean you should just kill them immediately, damnit)).

Methos - gets first dibs on the room due to boyf privileges... however having all met while flat hunting, Methos, Cas and Remus decide to flat share together instead. Somewhere a bit bigger where they can fit all their bookshelves in.

10. Krycek (2) has run over/destroyed Giles' (15) beloved pet/most prized possession. What happens?

from beckyl

Krycek knew better than to judge by appearances. He'd learnt that lesson the hard way. He'd been that lesson. So he'd done his homework, and watched and waited. But it was just a school with a library and a librarian. A fussy, British librarian who did nothing but collect rare books and yearn for the glory days of his youth when he had a half-blue in fencing and rugby wasn't something he watch on TV.

Getting into the school was easy - the door straight into the library stacks just made his life easier. He wondered how many students had worked out that they had an easy way to slip out for the price of a trip to the library. Not many from that he had observed. More fool them.

Thirty minutes later it was Krycek who was cursing himself for a fool. Either his information had been totally wrong or the bloody librarian had taken the papers he'd been sent to retrieve home with him. Mastering his temper he let himself back out again. There was nothing for it - he would have break into the librarian's house. He disliked the necessity; this was a search and retrieve job not a hit and home invasions could go very bad very quickly.

He'd cased the house as well, a standard precaution in the case of unforeseen eventualities - like this one. He let himself in.

There was a stack of books on the kitchen table and Alex searched through them quickly. In his haste he knocked the teacup that stood besides them. It hit the table with a light thunk but he caught it before it could role of and smash to the floor. He put it back on the carefully, noting with distaste that it had still been mostly full, the long cold liquid spreading over the table. He shuddered, unable to stop the instinctive reaction. In the darkness the spill of liquid had seemed black, reaching for him... but then common sense reasserted itself and he forced himself to breath. He shook himself and looked around the room for the next possible hiding place. A desk stood against the wall and he crept over to it, riffling through the draws with practised speed.

The brief creak of floor was his only warning and then a flash of pain sent everything black.

He came back to himself in a rush of panic. He was bound tightly, expertly the voice of his fear whispered to him, and he strained against it, feeling for any give in the bonds. There was none, but that just made him fight harder. He sagged eventually, desperation only able to sustain him for so long. It's only then that the light was turnned on and he shrunk away from the glare, blinking. Whoever was holding him had been there the entire time, Krycek realised, just standing their watching as he had struggled. That was never a good sign.

"You know those books were very valuable," the watcher said and for a moment Krycek has no idea what he is talking about. He hadn't been sent for any books. Before he could make a denial the man continued, "the Heptameron was written by Pietro d'Abano in the thirteenth century and was one of a few left in the world." The voice was pleasant enough - all education and tradition and afternoon teas. "It was given to me by a friend."

The speaker walked forward, coalescing from back-dropped shadow to solid man. Krycek wanted to laugh - he's tied up and being lectured by Mulder's Oxford come to life - but can feel the hysterical well of it clawing at him and doesn't dare. For all the faux-pleasantries Krycek knew the expression on the man's face. He'd seen it on the face of supposed lawmen before a beatdown was coming. He'd seen it behind blood-slick knives and through cigarette smoke. He'd seen it on his own face in the mirror.

Normally it is on the face of the people that ask the questions but there is only one question here and it is his - what does he have to do to survive.

Standing above him, Ripper grins.

11. Assuming Dean (4) knows all of the other characters somehow, which two would be the pair s/he'd trap in a lift together to observe for a couple of hours for maximum viewing amusement?

from beckyl

Of all the people on the list, Dean is probably the most likely to trap people in a lift for amusement. It's best to pretend he wasn't aiming for Sammy and missed.

Dean, being Dean, would probably think trapping Castiel in a lift would be hilarious - but trapping an Angel of the Lord in a lift is easier thought than done. Once you get to the flaming holy oil stage it gets beyond a prank.

Arthur is a definite. Arthur trapped in a lift would be premium viewing - especially if he had someone to make his feelings on the matter clear to. (And it really is a shame that he can't trap Arthur and Cas because, by the time they got let out, Arthur would be thanking Castiel for making him realise there were people who were more clueless and useless than Merlin and how he hadn't believed that was possible while Castiel would be giving him the 'humans are strange' look of confusion and petting.)

Whoever was trapped with Arthur would need to be someone who wouldn't knock him out (or kill him) out of hand because that would be no fun to watch (which removes a fair number of the options), or just be able to magic their way out/turn Arthur into a frog (which removes a bunch more unless Dean was to start with the anti-magic wards and hex bags). There is also no point on having anyone who will be too calm about the entire thing.

So of the non-magic/non-psychotic/unperturbable people on the list... that pretty much leaves Roman. And we know what happens when Roman gets stuck in a lift although the accidental drugging probably won't be replicated (depending on how bored Dean actually is - but I'm pretty sure Sam and Cas wouldn't let him go that far). Should such drugging have occurred, accidently of course, due to neither of the others knowing what Dean was planning, Sam will nearly crack a rib trying not to laugh as Dean has to field questions from Castiel about what is happening. Meanwhile, Merlin will flap around and totally miss the fact he has magic and can do something about it because Arthur..?!? It should also be noted that this purely hypothetical event was long before Roman and Deniz got back together again because otherwise it wouldn't be fair on them and they have been so amazingly sparkly recently (oh boys, boys! ). But luckily none of that happened.

12. Krycek (2), Remus (13) and Giles (15) go for dinner together: what type of food do they get? Who, if any, will feel like a third wheel?

from clarehooper

There are no proper chippies in American, at least not what Giles or Remus would count as proper chippies and since this is something of a reunion they feel the need for something properly British - so they go out for an Indian. They take Krycek with them - just because he persuaded Giles not to do anything fatal to him doesn't mean Giles is prepared to trust him in the house unaccompanied, or indeed out of his sight in general, at least until Krycek's sources locate replacement copies of all the book he drowned during the tea incident.

Krycek feels like the third wheel. He other two men share upbringing, history and country. And a love of books that Krycek thinks might be even more consuming than Mulder's little thing for aliens. At least there is no way Giles is going to ask him to dress us as a book and... the point being that Giles and Remus have a lot in common and are there on a voluntary basis. Krycek - less so.

13. Who on the list is Mark (7) most attracted to? Who on the list would be the best partner for Mark (7)?

from clarehooper

Given they are one of my OTPs I have to say Nicholas for the first part. However Nicholas would be the first person to say he wasn't the best partner for Mark so...

I just can't do it. I can see some of the others on the list being great friends, mentors or protégées but my OTP glasses are just on too firmly for me to pair Mark with anyone else (canon aside - but I never really bought Mark and Jane as a great/lasting relationship either). Oddly, I I don't have the same problem with Nicholas - go figure.

14. Would Methos (1) and Nicholas (8) ever team up to battle evil? Under what circumstances?

from clarehooper

That I would like to see! Here we learn an important lesson - evil is clearly stupid. Nicholas will battle evil if he he thinks it is in the best interest of Britain either directly or indirectly. He will also step up if doing so will not contradict his job and the evil is, well, evil. Nicholas might be a focused more on results than means but he does have some morals carefully tucked away. Methos is even more of a live and let live sort of guy (and occasionally run away and let live sort of guy) so to get them both involved the evil must have gone out of its way to really piss them off. This is what is commonly known as 'the first mistake'.

Both men would see the benefits of teaming up (if only to use the other as canon fodder/distraction to start with). Once they get past their respective trust issues then evil will find itself facing two very competent, occasionally deadly, deeply intelligent, amoral bastards. I don't think evil stands a chance.

15. Arthur (10) takes Merlin (11) on a surprise date. Where do they go? They find Sirius (12) is there - what is the reaction of each?

from jane_h

~~Bwhahaha, oh this is going to go so badly wrong.~~

There really aren't to many places in Camelot that the Crown Prince can take anyone on a date and least of all his useless and all too irritating man servant. Uther had given Arthur a number of deeply embarrassing talks over the years about young women and reputation. Arthur wasn't entirely sure whether that applied to Merlin because, although his servant was a bit of a girl, he was not a woman, young or otherwise. In the end, he decided to stick to his strengths - he'd take Merlin on a ride through the countryside, complete with picnic. You'd think Merlin never ate considering how scrawny he was, the least Arthur could do was make sure he got fed.

Decision made, The first thing Arthur did was send word to the castle kitchens to prepare the meal. Merlin grumbled about it, but Arthur was used to that so he didn't let it bother him. It was a surprise date after all and it wouldn't do to do anything that might cause suspicion of his plans. It was slightly embarrassing how long it took him to decide what to wear, although it did allow Merlin time to ready the horses. Mostly. It was sort of cute, in a really irritating way, just how useless Merlin could be at something he had been doing for //months//. If Arthur hadn't been paying attention when he went to mount the looseness of the girth could have had him on his arse. Now he wasn't easy but it was a date and if his arse came was involved in any way then bruised from falling off his horse was not his first choice. It wasn't even in the top ten. He explained, much more calmly and with more patience than Merlin deserved, what he excepted from a good servant but it was a date, after all, so he let him off lightly.

Things improved somewhat when they got underway. The day was fine, a little fresh but not nearly as cold as Merlin made it sound. It wasn't like there was snow on the ground or anything. The sun was out, the sky was a clear blue which, if Arthur was feeling poetic he might have compared to Merlin's eyes. Not feeling the need to blurt out every thought that came into his head, unlike some people, Arthur kept that particular observation to himself. He wouldn't want Merlin to think he had gone soft in the head.

They stopped for lunch besides a stream. Letting their horses drink and graze while they ate. Given that Merlin had actually collected the food he seemed unreasonably surprised that Arthur was sharing it with him. It was at that point things started to go wrong. Arthur was never entirely sure what spooked the horses - he thought he saw a large black dog amongst the trees but he couldn't give it his full attention due to the pressing need to vomit up everything he had eaten in the past year. He just had time to notice that Merlin was also looking a bit green around the edges when the man showed up and he understood: he had been poisoned by a sorcerer.

A sorcerer who is clearly insane because he actually walked up and introduced himself. When Merlin introduced them in return because a. he is an idiot who has no thought that people might want to take advantage of Arthur's vulnerable state and b. Arthur too is busy retching to respond himself, the man he took one look at Merlin, looked a little faint and started talking about how amazing meeting him was which made Arthur even surer that the man was seriously delusional. Even Merlin looked more confused than normal. And not a little horrified, but it was Merlin and he had just come face to face with an evil wizard so Arthur was probably lucky that he was only feeling horror and not mind-numbing terror. That didn't stop him telling Merlin to run (and being ignored so maybe the horror was mind-numbing or maybe Merlin just was that dumb) and trying to unsheathe his sword and hold it in something that resembled a defensive manner. Everything was a bit fuzzy after that.

He knows that he manages to get the still flapping Merlin back to the castle, horses and all. His head is feeling much clearer and he's down to dry heaves by that point which makes leading the search for the warlock much easier. Merlin looked pale and nauseous as he saw Arthur off, twittering incoherently about how Arthur should be resting. As if he could rest while there is an evil sorcerer out their threatening Camalot and having the temerity to try and poison Arthur on the surprise date he so carefully planned and organised.

Still he got to ride off looking noble and manly at the end of it which always seems to impress people. Or at least everyone other than Merlin who is clearly weird. He reviewed the day while he led his men back to the picnic spot from whence they will start the search. It certainly wasn't the best date he'd ever had... although it also wasn't the worst either (which was just depressing, he was the Crown Prince after all). Plus he was beginning to think that Merlin, clotpole that he was, had not even realised that it was a date. It made him wonder why he bothered.

And exactly when Gaius got a dog?

16. If Ianto (9) were an animal, what would s/he be? Whose pet (possibly exotic) would they like to be?

from jane_h

Blue-ringed octopus: small and relatively docile they are intelligent (like all octopuses) and use their camouflage ability to hide themselves - at least until provoked at which point they reveal their true colours and attacks with a venom powerful enough to kill an adult human (they are 5-8" and carry enough poison to kill 26 adult humans in a few minutes).

Whose pet would Ianto like to be... Giles or Methos, but I think that is more Ripperish than Gilesish and would take some explaining to the kids (unless they just failed to catch on and thought Ianto was a deputy librarian or something). Methos on the other hand has a thousands of years of keeping humans and just has to worry about Duncan giving him disapproving looks (at least they are probably supposed to be disapproving).

Oh wait - the Iantopus! *thinks* I can see Krycek liking the idea of a venomous, camouflaging octopus but it's a bit hard to find the time to look after a pet when you are a double... triple... however-many-times-agent/assassin on the run. However, from the octopus' perspective I expect he would like to be owned by someone who will give him a big tank to play in and remember to feed him regularly and do all the things that need to be done to keep an octopus happy. So I think the Iantopus will have to go with Remus. He could do with the company and he's responsible enough to look after him properly. Plus he can magic up fun toys for the Iantopus to play with.

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/6101.html. There are comments there.

Meme Responses Part 1

fides — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:23:23 GMT

Just to prove that I am answering them - here are the first set of answers to the 15 characters meme I posted a few posts ago. Answers in this section are to the questions asked by saraid, muuranker and the first two questions by zellieh and a mostly PG-13 rated.

My characters were:
1. Methos
2. Alex Krycek
3. Roman Wild
4. Dean Winchester
5. Castial
6. Kronos
7. Mark Brydon
8. Nicholas Brocklehurst
9. Ianto Jones
10. Arthur Pendragon
11. Merlin
12. Sirius Black
13. Remus Lupin
14. Ethan Rayne
15. Rupert Giles

1. Has Mark (7) ever eaten Nicholas (8)?

from saraid

"Nicholas, what's this?"

"It's a statement for the press briefing."

"We're putting out a denial?"

"It's customary."

"Bugger customary!"

"We discussed this."

"You discussed it. I disagreed."

"How about 'It is not the policy of this Embassy to answer questions on the private life of its staff.'"

"If that's the best I'm going to get. Right - what's next on the agenda?"

"That's all I've got. It's nearly lunch time... You hungry..?"

2. What is Roman's (3) favourite place? Why would Dean (4) refuse to go there?

from muuranker

Part A

While Roman has many places he thinks fondly of - Annette's flat, the red sofa, even the winner's podium from the few times he has had the opportunity to stand on it - none of them compare to the ice rink. He doesn't really care which one or where, although the Steinkamp's does have the cosy familiarity of home, but his favourite place is on the ice.

Part B

"An ice rink?! Do I look like a teenage girl? Glitter and frills, really not my thing. For crying out loud Sammy, if you and Cas wanted to watch skating, and don't think I've forgotten about that, couldn't you have picked something macho like ice hockey?"

"You know what, I think you just don't want your boyfriend seeing you fall on your ass. Don't worry - I'm sure he'll kiss it better."

"Have you been at the demon blood again because you are seriously deluded?"

"I'm not the one who's angel who wants to be taken on a date to the Ice Capades."

"Seriously dude, you need to drop that right now or I let Cas smite you when he gets back."

"Like that's going to happen. Just calling it like I see it bro. Where is he anyway?"

"Canada somewhere. Something about suspected demon influence."

"In Canada?"

"That's what I said. Apparently there was a theft, he kept talking about some guy called Johnny Weir..?"

3. What would Ethan (14) cook for Krycek (2)?

from muuranker

For some reason my immediate reaction was something a bit classy - fresh pasta, maybe linguini, a nice wine... and then I thought about the question a little more and realised that the possibilities are endless: Invisibility potion? Love spell? Memory Alteration potion? Teleportation charm? Astral projection lotion? Banish Undead smoke bomb? Limb-grow potion?

But, hypothetically, should a certain ex-FBI/Consortium agent (let's call him AK) want to take a bit of a break from intergalactic politics and related double-dealing and wanted his ex-partner (let's call him FM) to be able to come with him so they could finally talk, something that would normally be impossible due to an entire organisation of people existing for the express purpose of not giving FM a break... then maybe in a situation like that he would go to a respected Chaos Mage (lets call him ER) and arrange for a small, (fake) alien abduction to get everyone off your trail.

Hypothetically, I am sure Ethan could cook something like that up for him - for a price. And then, maybe they could go out for a nice Italian meal.. because it is important to appreciate the finer things in life. The other important thing to remember is that, when dealing with Chaos mages with a twisted sense of humour it is good idea to pick up the bill.

4. What would Castiel (5) find problematic about Giles (15)? Now imagine that whatever Cas (5) finds problematical is something they have to deal with.

from muuranker

Part A

Cas and Giles hit it off very quickly. There are however two things that Castiel finds slightly problematic - the first is Dean who can only take so long of Cas and Giles bonding over books before he starts getting twitchy. The second is Giles' demon summoning past. It isn't that Giles was a host, because that can happen to anyone without the right tattoos, but that he actively summoned demons and invited them to possess him. This is generally regarded as "Bad".

Part B

As for dealing with it: well, what is past is past and Giles has clearly been making up for it since, watching and guarding his charge as Castiel does his (well, maybe not exactly like...). However if it will make everyone feel a bit happier (a stop Dean adding holy water to the tea which is considered blasphemous by both Giles and Castiel, albeit for different reasons) if they give Giles a anti-possession tattoo, just to be on the safe side, then that is easily done.

And as for the Dean problem - if he's getting board sitting around the library then maybe Giles' charge can so him about the town a bit. Introduce him to the neighbourhood, as it were...

5. Methos (1), Kronos (6), and Arthur (10) are on a committee - what are their roles? Why would Mark (7) be causing them problems?

from muuranker

Part A

I'm going to assume for the sake of argument that Arthur stays alive for longer then five minutes which probably means that the committee is less a committee and more a war council which, in turn, probably means that Arthur is either protege or figurehead (depending on who you ask) and his role is to lead the armies and give them something and someone to fight for. Kronos is the warleader and general. His role is to advise on the best way to make sure the enemy becomes dead and then to do it. Methos is chief scribe/secretary and general advisor. His role is tactics and counter-intelligence.

Part B

Why would a skilled diplomat who wants to work towards peaceful solutions be causing them problems... where to start. He's mostly causing problems because he keeps wanting to make peace with people and generally prevent wholesale slaughter, which is pretty contrary to the whole conquering the world with fire and sword game plan. Not to mention occasionally reminding Arthur that he is not supposed to be acting like a prat and a bully which conquering the world probably qualifies him for, and the moments of conscience are rather disruptive to to the process. Plus Kronos is pretty sure that Methos is using Mark to manipulate them and those two playing games with each other and everyone else is even more disruptive to a well run war.

6. Roman (3), Mark (7), & Ianto (9) - What's their favourite charity, and why?

from zellieh

Roman

Doctors Without Borders because he really respects the work that his friend Oliver does.

Mark

If asked Mark would probably say his support of UNICEF slightly trumps his support for Amnesty International. Privately he thinks that the world needs someone like Amnesty who can shout loudly about how things should be with total disregard for the way things actually work and the compromises that people like him have to make. Nicholas laughs when he says things like that and claims that having Amnesty act as the world's conscience means that those in power don't need to have one. Mark likes to think he doesn't believe that.

Ianto

While, if asked, he would give some generic answer like Children in Need or Comic Relief or maybe, thinking of Tommy and Jack, The Royal British Legion day, Ianto's favourite charity doesn't have a name, just a number. He set it up quietly during his suspension, so quietly that he's not even sure if Jack knows about it although he suspects he does as it was not long after that Jack took him to Flat Holm for the first time. They don't talk about it. Ianto's charity, which doesn't have a name because if it did it would be Lisa and it is easier just to think of numbers, gives money to help those who have been hurt or lost family due to alien involvement. It isn't very much but it is the best he can do.

7. Castiel (5), Dean (4), Methos (1) and Krycek (2) - Are stuck on a desert island. How do they survive?

from zellieh

So Methos, Krycek, Dean and Castiel found themselves on a desert island. It should be the start of a joke. It wasn't, not really.

For now we'll overlook minor questions like why them and how they got there... those things will become apparent.

The first thing that happens is that Castiel tries to take Dean to safety. This is less than successful as he leaves... but Dean does not. Upon discovering this, he returns immediately in a panic (or with a slight frown which Dean choses to interpret as panic). On the next attempt Castiel accepts Dean's lack of presence with his normal magnanimity and focuses on the essentials like organising a rescue. He returns with assurances that the necessary steps are being taken but may take some time to locate them and make the attempt.

The second thing that happens is that Dean and Krycek get into a fight over who should be in charge. Methos watches, amused as they shout at each other.

"This is how Dean reacts to surprises," Castiel tells him seriously, "I have found it best to let him."

The threat of impending hunger forces them to put the argument on hold, the only agreement reached: that they should stick together. They introduce themselves as Dean, Castiel, Alex and Adam. Alex and Dean hunt, Castiel fishes and Adam complains.

The next day is pretty much the same. Castiel bamfs out to get an update on the rescue mission ("Cas are you sure you don't know exactly where this island is? Look, don't worry, just tell Dean to hold on - we're coming"). Dean and Alex hunt, Castiel fishes, Adam complains.

The third day is a repeat of the second. They are getting heartily sick of fish. And of Adam complaining.

Dean snaps first and kicks Adam out of the camp on the excuse that he should have a go at hunting if what Cas is providing wasn't good enough. It is the first thing Dean and Alex have agreed on (even if Alex did raise his eyebrows at the Castiel part of the rant). Castiel looks on, impervious. He is the only one not surprised when Adam returns with a selection of field-dressed haunches wrapped on lush leaves and a selection of plantlife which he assured them was completely edible.

He claims it was luck. Dean scoffs and Krycek is suspicious. Dean catches on and Dean is suspicious.

When Castiel asked why he did not reveal his knowledge sooner, Adam claims that you have to take your entertainment were you can find it. This results in another confrontation and Castiel assuring Dean that, while he did not know what Adam was, he is not in fact a Trickster. To Castiel's surprise, this does not prove as reassuring as Castiel thought it would and the whole sorry business is only brought to an end by Castiel apologising for holding out on Dean (Come on man, we've been over this!), Adam doing the slicing-the-palm thing ("That's just gross") and shots of holy water all around ("I hardly think I need to participate, Dean" "Shut up and drink, Cas").

After that things settled down a little (although Adam still complained). For a few hours a day Adam would hunt, Alex (who to Dean's great irritation had more experience with living from the land) would gather, Castiel would fish and Dean would wash/clean and tend the fire. This was only agreed on after Dean insisted that everyone swore blood oaths never to tell Sam.

This left them with three problems: their continually delayed rescue ("Tell Dean we're trying but it's like something is actively stopping us getting to you."), sunburn ("If anyone makes any cracks about moisturiser they are waking up with a crab in their bed" "The lotion that Adam made is most relieving, Dean. Why would this be the source of humour?" "Not helping, Cas") and boredom ("I spy with... Ow! Cas, watch what you are doing with that fish").

They explored during the day but night chased them back to the campsite and each other's company. Sitting around the campfire they would trade stories and Adam and Dean would argue over whether the biggest hardship was the lack of beer or pie. After a week of this, Alex, sick of the pair of them, argued that lack of sex trumped either. Adam pointed out that there was a possible solution to that and Dean's eyebrows made their own (doomed) bid for freedom.

Adam' comment remained a joke until it wasn't. Dean really hadn't needed to walk into the camp and see that. He sulked for a week. Right up until his angel's unintentional voyeuristic tendencies (at least Dean hoped they were unintentional) got him asked if he wanted to join in. This led to a lot of shouting, mostly by Dean and at a bemused Castiel. Adam's amused comments about God commending the angels to kneel before man and offer submission to them and what that had often equated to, had not helped the either the situation or Dean's blood pressure although it had nicely distracted Castiel into a discussion of theology and the use of sex in worship. Dean wasn't entirely happy about the latter topic ("How is it that you're petrified when I take you to a brothal but you don't blink at Egyptian priests trying to suck themselves and each other off?" "It was an act of worship Dean, don't blaspheme"). While the problem of Cas, sex and religion was only postponed ("Cas - all I'm saying is that cults and orgies don't tend to go together very well... and don't go thinking you will find God through one either." "Why would I think that Dean?") the discussion did break the ice between Castiel and Adam and subsequent evenings would often find the two having long conversations about the old days and reminiscing over shared memories of long forgotten songs and jokes and civilisations. This left Dean and Alex to bond over guns, knives and homemade explosives which suited them. Occasionally their discussion would spill over into the geeks side of the fire (Adam proved to be very knowledgeable on the topic of weaponry) or vice versa ("Wait, so if I'd taken you to a temple prostitute you wouldn't have acted like such a big freak?") and they all got pulled into the argument over whether Immortals had Grace and whether they were the remnants of the Grigori or Nephilim (Castiel), Aliens (Alex), none of the above (Adam), "Who-the-fuck-cares, and Cas, 'did it hurt when you fell out of heaven is not a serious question'" (Dean).

It wasn't perfect (no beer, no pie, no Sam and Dean did keep walking into things he didn't really want to see) but it was pretty congenial all things considered.

It was in the second month when Castiel realised who Adam was and, in his surprise, let this information slip - which led to Dean trying to kill him ("You were one of the fucking Horsemen of the Apocalypse!"). This did not end well ("Get the fuck off me") although nobody was seriously hurt ("Okay Cas, I'm calm... now will you get off me!"). It took a fortnight of Castiel practically acting as a go-between for Dean and Adam (the former refusing to have anything to do with the later) before any measure of trust was restored and another fortnight before Cas returned to his normal task of fishing and Dean returned to manning the camp. Slowly things got back to normal. At least normal for two men, one immortal and one angel stranded on a desert island.

It was four months since they arrived on the Island when Alex and Dean got into a 'who's seen the weirdest shit' competition (Cas wasn't allowed to take part because he was a voyeur angel and that was cheating and Adam was disqualified because he was one of the damn Horsemen of the Apocalypse for crying out loud). Alex was half way through his second story when Dean stopped him with "Wait - Mulder as in Fox Mulder?!"

From there it was a comparatively short step from two men, an immortal and an angel stranded on a desert island to two hunters ("He won't listen to me but I can give you Fox's number if you want it"), an ex-Death and an angel stranded on an island plotting the best way of ensuring the island's (along with the rest of the world's) continued existence. As Dean noted to Castiel as they lay down for sleep that evening on their side of the camp (what had started out as Dean not wanting to sleep without Castiel guarding his back had continued as the nights became colder, body heat more welcome and Dean would almost swear that he could feel the soft touch of Castiel's wing over him like a living feather duvet) it was a fucking miracle ("Yes Dean, it does seem oddly fortuitous").

Six months after they found themselves on the island, Sam jumped from the boat to the beach yelling for his brother and muttering imprecations about the Angel Gabriel and what he was going to do to him if this one wasn't the right fucking island. He skidded to a halt as he reached their campsite and clapped his hands over his eyes. He really did not did to see that. And who knew Angels of the Lord were so bendy?

"Dean?" he says carefully.

"Hey Sammy," Dean says back, "I'd like you to meet my friends - we have a few ideas about this apocalypse..."

Next part coming soon...

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/5660.html. There are comments there.

Meme

fides — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:56:26 GMT

(Gakked from derryderrydown) Lets see if this gets the little gray, creative cells working a bit:

1) Make a list of fifteen characters first, and keep it to yourself for the moment. (That way you're not leading the questions asked to fit the characters.)

2) Ask your flist to post questions in the comments.

For example:

'One, Nine and Fifteen move in together. Is this a really bad idea?'
'Under what circumstances might Five and Seven fall in love?'
'Which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?'

3) After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the fifteen characters you selected beforehand, then post them.

So give me questions lovely people!

[NB - I won't be posting the answers right away, partly because that way I won't give away what my list is, but mostly because I have to get a thing written for the end of the month but rest assured seeing the questions and checking them against my list is keeping me smiling (and giggling evilly) while I am poking and organising data which I should have done months ago but didn't because work was insane. Results will be posted start of next month.]

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/5626.html. There are comments there.

You Say Interactive Fan Fiction Like It's A Bad Thing

fides — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:10:17 GMT

I've not modded a game for a good long while, not since I used to play around with UT for research purposes (honest!). Having dipped my toe slightly into the DAO modding world thanks to going to find the 'Equal Love' mod (*pets Alister*) I had a look around at some of the other things that were going on. There are a few interesting looking mods (or possibly will be if they get finished) - for example, Bond of Blood for example 'explores' the relationship between the two Wardens although there is a definite hint of this isn't slash because what we are doing is good and deep and meaningful and has plot and something or other (which irritated me a little and since they seem to be going for the 'not gay it's just your character because of the deep bond due to the joining' I really am not sure they have much of a leg to stand on without getting into a bunch of gender/sexuality meta which I am not about to touch with a very long lance anyway...).

Now, I'm not sure exactly what it was about running around the landscape putting ghosts, demons and monsters to rest, occasionally dealing/using magic and dealing with the deep parent/abandonment issues of one of my party members made me think of a particular show but somehow it did. ~~Admittedly all the female characters in DAO aren't dying horribly, and there are quite a few who are both powerful and alive and not evil.~~

You know how these are - you try not to think about it but things just bubble around in your mind.

Is There Pie?

So the basic story would allow you to play either Dean or Sam and you would get the other as an initial party member. Unlike DAO you would have a max party size of three which would allow you to take one other person from those recruited with you on missions. Other possible party members would include:
Bobby
Jo
Castiel
Anne
Ruby
Critters/demons (see below)
Witch/wizard/psychic

The models that come with the game are surprisingly configurable facially and there are lots of mods for expanding the hair/skin/tattoo coming out so it probably wouldn't be too difficult to create something approximating the necessary visuals.

Necessary locations would be Bobby's place, Jo's bar and then a bunch of buildings and graveyards for them to general wander around in the search for pie, hauntings, monsters and other gribblies. And possibly trying to stop the Apocalypse and defeat Lucifer on the side. The cars might be a bit of a problem but otherwise there are lots of models for buildings and terrain and graves in the game. Not sure how easy that it to tinker with but some of the mods coming out have new territory so it is clearly doable.

It would be necessary to tweak the races, skills and spells options. The three main races we would need are human (magic user, hunter, normal), angel (archangel, normal, rebel, fallen) and demon (damned, demon, lord).

Demon magic would tend towards the nasty similar to the current entropy and blood magic spells, Angels could get a combination of healing, Templer and primal smite-y spells, humans would be limited to things like glyphs and anti-magic unless they could get a power boost somehow - for example through a deal with an angel or a demon which would open up some of the respective spell options. Humans could have a 'ritual' track as well for things like exorcisms. For Angels, grace would replace mana while for human magic users and demons it would be psychic energy.

As far as skill sets go - coercion, stealing, survival, herbalism, poisons, combat skills and combat training could probably transfer as is. You would have to mess around with what you could make with herbalism and poisons (maybe name them slightly differently) but they could allow characters to make things like holy water, hex bags, rock salt bombs etc. I'd be tempted to replace trap skills with electronics just to update things a bit - it would allow you to set up and disable security systems. I'd love to have driving but I think that would just complicate matters and I note the game doesn't have riding either, probably for similar reasons. Maybe you could just have the Impala appear in the group campsite and the trunk acts as a group equipment stash. It would probably be worth lowering the number of equipment slots that the party had - partly to represent that less party members == less carrying space (riiiight!) but mostly because I think there would be less types of useful items (runes, rock salt, petrol, fire lighter, guns, ammo, phosphorus ammo, salt ammo, holy water, money etc) and therefore less slots needed to keep the same 'can-i-carry-everything' tension.

Talents would require a bit more tweaking. But basic areas could be something like research (languages, hacking...), hustling (lock-picking...), combat (melee, missile...) etc

Hacking is a little problematic because it would necessitate having something you could use it for. One interesting possibility would be to take the DAO fade and turn that into a cyberspace analogy. In that same way that there is a the fade mission, you would have a mission in which the characters have to carry out tasks in cyberspace, possibly having to interact with Winchester Chronicle fans online to find someone/some information. That aside you could have computers which could be hacked in various places (like locked chests) as a source of funds/objects (online ordering).

Things like the Mages collective/Black stone irregulars would be replaced by Hunter networks, reformed vamps/non-homicidal supernatural critters etc.

Gifts could be character appropriate - Dean: car parts, food (and porn ?), Cas: religion items, Sam: books and computer upgrades, Jo: weapons, Bobby: research books etc etc.

Which brings us on to the fun bit - plot and character interaction.

Clearly the basic plot would be a main plot arc of stopping Lucifer/the Apocalypse with the sub plots being the hunting jobs that are need to be taken of in the mean time, the search for clues about how to stop Lucifer and rounding up allies for the big final battle (pretty much the plot of DAO). Random encounters while travelling will be mostly fights to save seals as Angels pop up, ask for help and then then zap you to the seal and back again afterwards if you agree to help. If you don't help then the seal will probably fall and demons and demon magic will get a boost.

And you will gain corruption points. The game already comes with an approval rating slider so that characters can approve or disapprove of the main characters actions. It doesn't really have any concept of good/evilness of the characters beyond what they approve and disapprove of and how the player chooses to behave. The closest is that you can 'harden' (no jokes from the peanut gallery) you characters to make them more self-interested (more willing to be king, have threesomes etc) but that is a on/off toggle. What I think would makes things a lot more interesting would be to have a corruption bar as well as the approval bar. So certain actions (choosing not to save innocents, choosing not to save seals, drinking demon blood, making deals with demons, for example) would give the character corruption points. Become corrupt enough and Angels become fallen Angels and humans become damned and gain demon powers. The more corrupt you are the more powerful demon magic is/can be but on the other end of the scale you can work your way up the scale and gain grace and start possibly getting access to Angel magic. It should be harder to get redemption/grace than it should be to get corruption/lose grace. Most humans will start of around the zero-mark, angels start with high grace and demons with high corruption.

Just to make things more twisted the options that the character get will change depending on their corruption level. So a character with higher grace may get less chance to not save the innocents because they just wouldn't think of that possibility while a character with very high corruption might not get the option to save them unless they could be useful. I think this would work by having a margin of error - within that corruption/grace range then you would just get approval/disapproval for your actions. Outside that range then the amount of approval/disapproval that an action would receive would be altered based on the difference in rating. Not only that but the character with the higher grace rating would gain some corruption if they agreed to go along with the corrupted character and might refuse to help if they didn't. This could result in them leaving the party (if it was bad enough) or just not coming along on that part of the mission. High approval and cunning/coercion means that you are more likely to be able to talk the characters into doing what you want.

NB. Rebel angels are not necessarily fallen although they may become so. However their grace pool for spells maxes out at whatever their grace level is so as they become more corrupted their powers are weakened. Non-Rebel angels are linked to the angel grace network and so regen grace quicker and can't loose it. They also can't join the party so to get an angel in your ranks you have to get a high enough approval rating that you can talk them into defying heaven's orders for you and rebelling. Then when they are in your party you have to worry about how much you are corrupting them. Angels and archangels can't be romanced, rebel angels can, as can fallen angels (although they tend more towards the sex rather than the romance), demons and non-related humans (at least at normal corruption levels).

It would however be a bit silly if there was no way to finish the game if you get too corrupted. So there would need to be an alternative 'dark side' ending where the boys stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse... by Sam killing him and taking his place to reign in Hell. If your main character tips over into 'damned' then either you have corrupted the rest of your party enough that they stick with you or you haven't which will result in them leaving and possibly trying to kill you on the way out. A number of other possible companions will also become available such as demons who wouldn't have considered joining you previously. It that situation, when travelling it won't be angel popping up and asking for help to save the seal it will also be demons popping up and asking for help to break them. Demons are more likely to be friendly with you and angels will attack.

The sub-finale decision will be the possession fight in which either Micheal or Lucifer asks to possess Dean or Sam respectively (depending on corruption levels - if Dean and Sam are both corrupted then Lucifer will approach, otherwise Micheal will approach although if Dean is corrupted he won't ask so it will be a straight fight and even if you are playing as Sam and Dean isn't in the party then you will get a chance to intervene on his side if you choose). If you say yes then the character becomes Micheal or Lucifer and you take them into battle against Micheal + Angels (if Samifer) or Lucifer + Demons (if Deaneal). They sacrifice themselves and the final battle is won or lost. Alternatively, Sam/Dean tells Lucifer/Micheal to get lost and don't take kindly to 'No' as an answer. If it is Micheal wanted to possess Dean then it is a matter of beating him to show that you are strong enough to go up against Lucifer without being possessed. Losing gets you possessed, winning gets you Micheal and the ranks of angels on your side in the final battle. If it is Lucifer then the fight is on for Sam's soul. Losing gets him possessed and the remaining party gets the choice to join Lucifer for the finale battle against the angels or to try and kill Samifer with the angels on your side but not allied. Winning means destroying Lucifer and taking his place as Lord of Hell. You then have to fight Micheal and the massed ranks of angels as they try and take you down.

Edit (post-finale) - With the season finale, the basic plot actually becomes a even more obvious - the side missions are all to get the rings from the horsemen so that Lucifer can be trapped again during the final battle. If Dean says 'Yes' to Micheal then it is a straight up battle between Deaneal and Lucifer/Samifer (depending on whether Sam says yes or not), if Dean says 'No' then the plan is to trap Lucifer/Samifer (depending on whether Sam says yes or not) with the rings for the final battle with possible option for taking on Micheal (or Zak) first. The corruption track would remain pretty much the same with Lucifer needing to be defeated so that Sam/Dean can rule in Hell safely and then optionally fighting the Angels for complete control of Earth (as a benevolent Evil Overlord).

Not that I have thought about this at all. In some ways I am quite glad that I am using a Mac at the moment since that pretty much removes the temptation of having a play with thing (the toolkit appears to be PC only). Hopefully now I have written this all down I can stop turning it over in my head.

Pimping Post: Alles Was Zählt (The EKP Version)

fides — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:36:02 GMT

Why you should all be watching German soap operas about ice-skaters with issues:

Background

Welcome to the (fictional) German town of Essen - a town that consists almost entirely of the Steinkamp Sports & Wellness, a bar/restaurant called the No. 7, a fry stand which serves really good chips, a few flats and a mansion or two (there are rumours of clubs and airports but we have yet seen those so they may be a lie).

The first thing to say about this show is that I don't speak German. At all. This is not a problem for one reason - three dedicated and wonderful fangirls known collectively as the EskimoKissProject (EKP) who take selected scenes, translate and subtitle them and then make them available on YouTube. What I am pimping here is the EKP version of the show (as that is the one I can understand) which obviously is a lot like the actual show but with a slightly different emphasis - namely Roman Wild.

Characters

While not the main character of the 'real' show, one of the leads of the EKP!AWZ is Roman Wild.

When we first meet Roman he is 'out' to his friends but in the closet as far as the international press are concerned (if you look around hard enough there are actually some earlier clips translated by someone else showing the brief relationship that Roman had which resulted is his coming out to his friends). Roman is a figure skater and a pretty good one. He skates for the Steinkamp team, initially as a soloist and later as a pairs skater. Most of the time he is funny, cute, sensible, loyal to his friends and generally awesome. He is not however perfect by any means, he can be obsessional, especially about skating and his career, bitingly snarky and occasionally a bit of a diva (although sometimes with reason). He pushes himself hard and expects recognition and respect for that which he doesn't always gets which is when his combination of ego and self-esteem issues start causing problems. On the whole though, he is sinned against more then he sins.

Roman has three best friends:

His 'evil best friend' (and he does refer to her as such because she is) Jenny Steinkamp. Jenny is the scheming, selfish, bitch princess of Essen and totally rocks in her evil scheming ways. Another figure skater she is not above cheating to try and nobble the opposition (although she is a very good skater in her own right, just not necessarily the best and she needs to be the best). She does occasionally pull Roman into her schemes and the rest of the time he has more sense than to get involved. She and Roman have been friends for a long time (not least because it is better to be her friend than her enemy) and not only get on well but in later episode pair up on the ice and skate together beautifully. She is attractive, manipulative and there isn't much she won't do (including trying to sleep with her half-brother). She also is desperate for her parent's love and approval (and just love in general), and has a really bad track record with her boyfriends ditching her for other women which is when she really turns dangerous. She has been played by two actresses (both shown below) and they do a great job of showing how broken the character is.

Roman's good best friend is Annette Bergmann who runs the fry stand with the occasional foray into the creative arts such as make-up, hair styling, and costume design. Annette is best friends with Diana Sommer (the original main character of the 'actual' show), ice-skater extraordinaire and rival to Jenny. Except for one brief period as a pod-person, Annette is awesome. She is funny, loyal, sweet, occasionally disorganised and really cool. She can also be deeply stubborn and sometimes her loyalties to one person cause her to neglect others (or refuse to forgive them). She shares a flat with a number of different people over the course of the show including Roman, Diana, her sister Lena and Ingo, on whom she has a long term crush. It is possible she and Roman have had sex having got very, very drunk and woke up together naked (except for the feather boa) however neither of them can remember what happened, the condom packet was probably because they were making balloons and that is the story they are both sticking to.

Ingo Zadek is Roman's straight best friend. He is often described as a cowboy and he loves country music, BBQs, beer and playing the guitar. He works as a physio, aqua-aerobics and hockey coach at the Steinkamp center and is totally adorable, with only occasional lapses into idiocy. While it takes them a while to get together (including his briefly dating Lena), he and Annette have something special and are really wonderful couple. He keeps a (dead ?) pot plant called Olga whom he has had for 18 years and is a genuinely nice guy. He gave Roman the nickname 'Bunny' (mostly used just by him and Roman).

Other important people around Essen include:

Marian Öztürk was originally from Turkey (and has a growing list of relatives back there) and moved to Germany as a teenager. He runs the No. 7 bar (he won it gambling) and has a bit of a dark past that he doesn't like to talk about (although it involves safe-cracking and a dashing and suave French thief named Etienne). Normally one of the more sensible of Essen's residents, he has his moments of idiocy and the occasional flares of trouble from his macho, traditional upbringing. Married young and divorced he has a couple of children, the oldest of which is Deniz.

Deniz Öztürk comes to live with Marian when he is 17 and brings a few issues with him. A bit wild/immature initially, his mother is thankful to get rid of him (which doesn't help his issues when he finds this out). He plays ice hockey and has a tendency to speak before he thinks and then to keep digging when he gets himself in a hole. When we first meet him he is arrogant, troubled and a bit of a twat and gets away with way to much due to his puppy dog eyes and sincere (at the time) apologies. After being accidentally, and innocently, involved in outing Roman to the press, he reacts badly to the teasing he gets and becomes friends with some homophobic jerks on the hockey team. His guilt over what happens to Roman leads to the two getting closer and some revelations about his own sexuality (he is probably bi although the character has a tendancy to define himself by whoever he is dating at the time). His first raft of relationships (Nina, Roman, Vanessa) are a total disaster (all his fault) and he briefly gets into drugs, 'escorting' (really!) and other stupidity before growing up and getting pulled into figure skating. Over the episodes he really matures (although he still has a tendency to lie his way into trouble even while having the best of intentions). He and Roman are complicated, mostly good for each other (especially in later episodes), sometimes tragic/heartbreaking and sweetcutehotomg (see below).

Vanessa Steinkamp, Jenny's younger sister and the daughter of Simone and Richard, is a ice-hockey playing, no-nonsense sort of person (again, except for brief attacks of pod-personness). She likes metal, isn't obsessed with looks/image and speaks her mind. She briefly goes out with Deniz (under the impression he has broken up with Roman, then continues the realtionship after she forgives him for lying to/cheating on her - see early pod-person comments). Sadly she has a really unlucky streak when it comes to the men in her life, notably Ben with whom she was in love but had to split up when it was discovered he was her secret half-brother.

Nina Sommer - step-sister to Diana she is obsessed with parties and celebrity and gets most of her 'wisdom' from Hollywood movies and American TV shows. When we first meet her she is a thoughtless, idiot teenager but over the course of the series she develops into someone surprisingly likable. She has a doomed relationship with Deniz (he is more interested in proving he likes girls than her), crushes on Marian (ends really badly) and she is on a continual search for love. This search eventually leads to Dr. Axel Schwarz with whom things become complicated. After living with a bunch of different characters she ends up sharing a flat with Roman and is a better friend than might be expected from the above description.

Dr. Axel Schwarz is the controller at the Steinkamp centre and is something of a total twat. Obsessed with money and getting ahead in business he is lacking in empathy and any finer feelings (they will make him weak). He has a score to settle with the Steinkamps and is always looking for the main chance. Despite his best efforts he does have a soft spot for Nina. He also ends up having a sports-drink and alcohol fueled snog with Roman while stuck in a lift (the security footage is a hit when it leaks around the center) and they have an almost-moment when (at Nina's request) Roman tries to test whether Axel is gay. He has also slept with various other people around the town and regards himself as something of a ladies-man.

Mike Hartwig is the skating coach at the Steinkamp centre. Good friends with Ingo and friends with Roman and the other skaters he is often abrasive, insensitive, cynical and occasionally unprofessional. He has a thing with Lena and is very much there for her (and her baby) when she ends up pregnant. While a lot of the time you want to slap him he does have moments of awesomeness. Don't get too attached.

Diana Sommer is an amazing ice skater who is Jenny's rival. She was the original main character in the show although she has left after tragedy and amazing ice dancing.

Julian Herzog was the Steinkamp PR guy. He was engaged to Jenny before leaving her for Diana. This does not go down well. He is sweet and lovely and dies tragically.

Oliver Sommer is the doctor at the Steinkamp centre. He is quite quite (although rather cute) and occasionally goes off to do things like Doctors Without Borders.

Stella Coretti is the perky blonde they brought in after Diana has left. She is the next great ice-skating hope for the Steinkamp team. She is Marian's Goddaughter, Deniz had a heap big crush on her and she used to work in a circus. She also ended up swiping Jenny's boyfriend (why, yes, we have seen that plot line before). I think we are supposed to like her and think she is great, although I could be wrong.

Lars Berger is an recovering alcoholic choreographer. He had a bad history with Jenny (she ruined his career) and has a tragic past (his wife was killed). He has a relationship with Jenny (and they are quite adorable together until Jenny starts losing him) but then ditches her for Stella. This does not go down well. Lars ends up sharing a flat with Nina and Roman. When Nina moves out he argues against Stella moving in with them and invites Oliver to be their roomie instead (the look on Roman's face is priceless when Lars is making breakfast and it is Oliver in a towel who comes out of the bathroom rather than Stella).

There are also a bunch of other characters including Lena, Annette's sister who keeps getting kidnapped and has a baby by Max, the half-brother of Jenny and Vanessa, and Richard and Simone Steinkamp who own the center and are ruthless business people etc.

Ships

The main pairings:

Canonically there are a number of cool pairings (and some others).

Diana/Julian - Sweet and tragically doomed

Annette/Ingo - This pairing rocks and they are adorable.

Jenny/Lars - Surprisingly sweet (until it all goes really, really horribly wrong)

Stella/Lars - Deserve each other.

Nina/Axel - Weirdly right

Jenny/Marian - So very wrong and yet so right. You just hope it will last but know it probably can't.

Deniz/Vanessa - Bad for Vanessa and Deniz just isn't ready for any relationship, but if you want angst, confusion and heartbreak then this is the right place. They are great friends though.

Roman/Deniz - These two are the reason why EKP is known as the 'gay boys with issues' channel. Whether they are together, split up (and accidentally falling on top of each other naked), snarking at each other or being sweet they are never boring.

There are also a number of pairings that haven't happened but really should, there are just too many characters with great chemistry. For the non-slashers... actually there aren't too many combinations that haven't happened yet and they probably will if you wait long enough. For the slashers, Vanessa and Nina would probably both be happier if they just gave up on boys and found each other instead and Roman has chemistry with pretty much everyone (Oliver, Mike, Lars etc) although (dis)honourable mention has to go to Roman/Ingo. If I didn't love the open, easy, physically affectionate friendship that Roman and Ingo have in the show I would ship these two so hard (although only while Ingo and Annette are not together, otherwise threesome is the only answer). They have no compunctions about touching each other, dancing together (see clip below) and generally being adorable together.

Why you should watch (other than the pretty)

Yes - it is a soap opera so the plot lines do sometimes head into WTF territory (Lena's abductions, Diana stripping, dead people getting in contact, voodoo, Deniz as an escort, the deadly virus etc) but that being said some of the characterisation and development is actually damn good. The evil characters are fucked up and fucked up for a reason rather than just cardboard cut out evil and even the good characters get to screw up and have reasons and motivations and blind spots. Which means that they become characters you care about. And there is actual character development even if the show is very good at totally nailing the story that isn't the one they think they are telling!

Then there is the skating. Actual ice-skating and occasionally some really good ice-skating. The show is lucky enough to not only have some good skaters who can act (as well as some actors they have picked some skating up) but some good doubles and and one notable occasion a number of well-known German skaters take part in a full ice show.

The acting is generally good and in some cases especially so as the actors really sell their characters and what they are going through.

And on a totally shallow note. The guys are hot and the girls are gorgeous without being unreal and plastic. And being a European soap, while not being gratuitous it doesn't shy away from nudity or sex (and you get as much, if not more, skin shown on the male characters as the female ones). And possibly more unusually, the gay relationships are treated in much the same way as the straight ones with their ups and downs (in every sense) and in having the little moments between the characters which are not about sex but are about relationship and connection (okay, that could just be they way Roman and Deniz are acted but it still happens).

Tasters

As much as I would love to be able to show you just the snippets without the context I can't. The links below are to the relevant episode sections and, while I have tried to put the time stamps in where it is just one small section there is still intercut scenes so you will get bits of the rest of the episode which will contain spoilers (occasionally quite big spoilers with regards to the fates so some of the characters). Sorry about that. If you don't mind that though, the clips below are worth watching to give you a taste. If you want more then I suggest you watch through the EKP playlists (you can skip Playlist 2 (the dark years) without missing too much but it is worth watching the angstfest that is Playlist 1 (Deniz and Roman) before you go on to Playlist 3 (Current) because the background is quite important).

As tempting as it is to just put links to all the episodes with the boys being all over each other that seems too easy (although if you want the list you can always ask in the comments). Okay, there might be a little bit of that, but only a little.

Roman sees Deniz: Episode 231 (2:24-3:43)

In which Deniz might be hiding a little (or not so little) interest in Roman and innocent things are misinterpreted: Episode 270 (9:09->) & Episode 271 (->1:19).

Roman has some (then a lot of) trouble after he comes out but he also has support from his friends: Episode 278 (2:20-6:47)

Well most of them, but Deniz comes clean eventually (With angst, angst and a little bit of angst): Episode 288

Roman helps Deniz get a clue (with added tongue): Episode 296 Part 2 (6:39->)

Deniz helps Roman face the ice again: Episode 299 (1:45->)

See the pretty skating:
Diana - Episode 260 (6:25->), Episode 261/2 (4:05 - 8:00)
Roman - Episode 260 (->2:55)
Jenny - Episode 790 (4:00-6:09)
The Ice Show - Episode 516, Episode 517, Episode 518
Roman and Jenny - Episode 615 (3:38-5:50), Episode 630 (1:20-3:55)
Deniz And Stella - Episode 747 Part 2 (->3:11)
Roman and Deniz - Episode 748 Part 2 (4:32-8:10 - with bonus Jenny and Marian making the clip NSFW), Episode 812 (6:50-9:24)

Ingo and Roman Dance: Episode 420/1 (6:44-6:57)

What happens when you lock two men in a lift with a drink which (unbeknownst to them) has slight slide effects when mixed with alcohol: Episode 693

First times and morning afters: Episode 306 (5:08->) and Episode 307 (->0:44, 2:28-2:54)

The Red Couch: Episode 321 (1:25 - 2:00), Episode 526 (740->)

The Locker Room: Episode 357 (->2:50)

Roman tries to discover whether Axel is gay (at Nina's behest) but just proves that it is possible have a deep and poignant conversation about Baywatch while just wearing a towel (well mostly wearing a towel): Episode 714 & 715 (7:27-8:06, 8:33->), Episode 716 Part 1 (->3:05)

Ingo's on ice striptease: Episode 374 (->2:06)

The shower scene (which everyone has probably seen before): Episode 751 (->1:10)

A flat share with possibilities: Episodes 795 & 796

Vids

These contain some spoilers:

Not Fade Away - Diana skating.
Oh my God! - General vid taking a humourous look at some of the video editing in AWZ.
Das Eis lügt nicht - Roman-centric vid. Slightly heartbreaking and beautiful.
Ooops - Deniz-centric vid. Deniz doesn't meant to lead Roman on.
My Evil Friend, Jenny - Roman and Jenny conspire and Deniz looks worried.
At this moment - Roman/Deniz heartbreak.
My Happy Ending - DeRo 0.1 - the good parts version [NSFWish]
All Coming Back To Me Now - Roman remembers why falling for Deniz can be both a good and a bad thing.
World Exploding Touch - Deniz/Roman + locker room. [NSFW]

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/3910.html. There are comments there.

All together now...

fides — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:04:49 GMT

In case anyone in interested - I am on Archive of Our Own and I am slowly collecting together my completed stories there (I think I have most of them there now ~~and mmom has a lot to answer for~~).

My plan in the future will be to announce works on DW (and post in the relevant communities) and archive on AoOO and use LJ for other stuff (fannish and non-fannish). So if you are here for the fic you want to friend or RSS feed my DW account (if you haven't) and if you are around for everything else then friend or RSS my LJ account and give my DW one a miss. A few things will get cross posted, but not many.

This was a public service announcement on behalf on the permanently confused party. Thank you all.

Originally posted at http://fides.dreamwidth.org/3586.html. There are comments there.

E-Books

fides — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:40:12 GMT

Of possible interest to anyone with an e-book reader (or who just like electronic versions of novels): SUVUDU are doing "the first one's free" marketing ploy on a number of sci-fi & fantasy series - including Temeraire!

I believe this is legit and they say they are going to have more series in the future as well.

Semantic Web Talk

fides — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:09:01 GMT

If anyone wants a laugh at me presenting a lecture on the semantic web then the the mov file can be found at http://www.dho.ie/podcasts/sweb.mov

Minor problems/my saying umm/etc I don't want to know about! ;-)

Googlebomb link

fides — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:49:29 GMT

Defin: Amazon Rank

Happy New Year!

fides — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:19:10 GMT

Happy new year one and all!

Wishing everyone all the best for 2009. May the year bring you happiness and joy. May your sorrows be few and exist only to make your triumphs greater.

*Hugs*

LHC Rap

fides — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:35:50 GMT

Because the LHC is worth rapping about.

Pimping

fides — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:11:24 GMT

Check these rocking tunes out, people!

NB. For those wondering, the vamp related ones were inspired by Tanya Huff's Blood series (we don't just do fanfic in my family) and the Paths of Degrodation song was inspired by the Blonde and one of my little bros ~~argueing about~~ discussing his homework. (And yes, the City of Villian's song was written for littlest bro's gaming clan but we'll overlook that).

I Can Haz Book?

fides — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:12:35 GMT

The details are starting to appear and with a release date and everything (looking at the table of contents, mine is that last chapter and looks really basic compared to the others but that could just be me)!

Headsup for any Sentinel Fans on my FList

fides — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:06:27 GMT

Just in case you didn't know - Monday (9th), Channel 4, 9pm there is a documentary on Richard Burton, the explorer not the actor, narrated by Rupert Everett. More information here.

Play Suck!

fides — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:35:04 GMT

They are going back on their Torchwood Season 2 offer and not honouring the orders.

Boo to them.

Dentist

fides — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:46:22 GMT

Had dentist's appointment today.
On plus side they didn't poke me with needles or drill or suchlike so the rest of the afternoon was not spent drooling as face was numb or going owie...
On down side, apparently I have very badly cracked one of my wisdom teeth and have to have it out. He put a temporary cover/filling on but it is a matter of his writing to the hospital and the hospital writing to me to give me an appointment to get it removed.

Hopefully the problems I've had are all down to this tooth and will go away now.

Heath Ledger RIP

fides — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:18:41 GMT

Just saw the news and in shock. While I wasn't a 'fangirl' I have been following his career since I first saw him in 10 Things I Hate About You. I loved Knight's Tale and I thought that with Brokeback Mountain he really proved himself as a serious actor and much more than the 'pretty face' that he was in his earlier movies.

*Silence*